Week Ten: Disney Princess Half Marathon Training

Week Ten

Monday – swim

Went swimming for the first time since September. More specifically the last time I swam was during my triathlon! After a few laps, I took the time to stretch out my hips while I was in the water. I also noticed that the breaststroke worked my hips out in a different way since most of my exercise has come from running and it’s the same motion over and over. Must keep swimming in the mix!

1150 yards – 32:30 min

Tuesday – run

Kept pretty good pace considering I was outside. I've been running slower outside than I do on the treadmill so I was surprised to see this pace.

I had a magical moment: I was powering up a hill, listening to "Friday" by Rebecca Black (don't judge), and I got beeped at by a guy with a Red Sox sticker on his car. I don't know for sure, but I'm going to assume it was a beep of approval. And I approve of his choice of sports team. Call me.

39:01 mins – 2.38 miles  (16:22/mi)

Wednesday – Wii tennis & bowling

Why don’t I play this more often? It’s really fun and you can work up a sweat if you really get into and don’t just stand there. Downside. All the work is done with my dominant arm, so that gets worked out, sore & tired while the other gets nothing. I should switch it up sometimes to see if I can play left-handed.

40 mins

Thursday –run clinic & Wii tennis

I attended a run clinic at my gym. There was more talking than there was running. The coach told us a lot of stuff that he learned over the years of being a runner and a coach. Also watched us run short distances and told us how we could improve. I got something out of it and if he created a running club, I’d join so I could get more advice on how to get better at this thing I call running.

Then I came home and played Wii Tennis again.

30 mins

Friday – Mall walking

Yup, that happened. I went to dinner with my mom and a friend and we walked 3 loops around the mall after dinner. Not gonna lie, I might do it again. It’s a fairly good walking workout – better than the treadmill – and I don’t have to be outside in the cold! Too bad I can’t run inside. Although I suppose that’s what the track at my gym is for.

35 mins - 1.3 miles

Saturday – Jonathon’s Fitness workout

I did @jonathonsfitnes's favorite total body workout - 10 min legs, 10 min arms, 10 min abs. The arms one was too easy, I obviously need heavier weights. But I can see this being a staple to my workouts! It made me sweat and I could feel the burn! I loved it!

Sunday – long run – 3 miles

This was a clusterfluff of 3 miles. I did the Winter Classic 5K, my first DNF, and I don’t even want to talk about it anymore. You can read the race report if you haven’t already.

0.85 miles – 12:50 (15:05/mi pace), 

Came home from the race and took the dogs for a walk to finish the 3 miles for the day. Jogged a few times when the dogs wanted to go faster, but when they started to get crazy and pull, I walked again.

2.34 miles – 43:50 (18:45/mi pace)

Total: 3.19 miles – 56:40 (17:45/mi pace)

This race was the icing on the cake. This was the 3rd race where I’ve gotten no support on the course as far as directions for which way to go or water stations and one of them was even starting to take down the finish line area as I crossed and there were still people behind me – and that was the race that not only accepted, but welcomed walkers and their dogs.  I started a campaign called No Runners Left Behind because races need to be aware that not everyone who registers for a race will finish before 30 minutes or even 45 or even 60 (gasp!). If races have time constraints, they should post them on their registration page and let people decide if they can achieve that time before registering, not after the race when they get lost because all the volunteers have gone home. I'm hoping to get more race directors and organizations on board with this campaign so more people will enjoy races and not feel excluded in something they are doing to make themselves healthier.

Dec 5 - Dec 11

76 days until the Disney Princess Half Marathon!